Experimenting
by holytriangulareyebrowsbatman
Summary: Ginny went with Neville to the Yule Ball. Maybe there's more to it than that. I always wanted Harry and Ginny to end up, but recently I've been thinking Nevinny has a nice ring to it.   Dedicated to zohahusain, fellow shipper and best friend.


**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, my life would be worth something.**

**Experimenting**

I groaned internally as another fast song started pulsing through the speakers.

"D'you mind if we sit this one out?" I said to Neville. He obviously couldn't hear me over the screeching of the so called music.

"What?" He said loudly.

"Can we sit down?" I said each word slow and clear.

"Er…sure". He said something else which I didn't quite catch, so he just led me outside, to the Entrance Hall.

"What was that?" I asked, slightly confused. "I said 'let's sit this one out,' not 'let's go for a moonlight walk'".

"Yeah, then I asked if it was okay if we went outside. One more minute of that and my eardrums would've exploded".

"I know what you mean," I grinned, and we sat on the floor with our backs against the wall. "But it's not so much the music, as my shoes that are killing me".

"Ah," was his response.

We sat in awkward silence for a couple of minutes. Trying to diffuse it, I made the 'awkward turtle' sign and he burst out laughing.

"Maybe we should go back inside, then we wouldn't have to talk," he suggested. "It's okay," he said hurriedly, noting my expression. "We won't dance".

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't have anything to distract me from seeing Harry and Ron ignore their dates to stare at Cho and Hermione," I rolled my eyes. "Small talk is better than watching that train wreck".

He was quiet for a moment, then said very softly, "You like him, don't you?"

"Er… he's my brother. When does anyone ever like their brother? I guess I _love _him, but only because I have to," I joked.

"Come on," Neville raised an eyebrow. "You know what I mean".

I sighed. "To be honest, I don't think I do. Anymore. I mean, yeah, I guess I've had a bit of a crush on him since I was ten, but he's Harry Potter. He was like a rockstar to me," I grinned. "And him rescuing me from the Chamber of Secrets didn't help anything. It just grew. But earlier this year, I realized that Ron's like his brother, so where would that leave me? So I stopped writing Mrs. Ginny Potter all over my notebooks and- shut up, it's not that funny! Look, do you want t hear this or not? Good. Anyway, I decided I should get over this fantasy of him suddenly seeing me as girlfriend material. I mean, if it's meant to be, hey, it'll happen. And if not, it's cool. Maybe I'll do what Hermione said, and go out with other guy's it'll get my attention off him, and his attention onto me".

"Hmm," he mused. "I'm impressed. All this coming from a thirteen-year-old. And here I was thinking all you could do was send people corny Valentine's gifts. '_H__is eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad_-'" he started.

"Shut up!" I whacked him across the head, blushing furiously. "I cannot _believe _I did that".

We stayed quiet for a minute. Then I glanced at him and we both started hooting with laughter.

"_His hair is as dark as a blackboard,_ _I wish he was mine he's really divine,_ _the boy who conquered the dark lord_!" We finished together.

After the giggles had subsided, I said the first thing that popped into my mind. "Why'd you ask me to the ball, Neville?"

He looked slightly taken aback by the sudden question and then embarrassed to have been put on the spot. I regretted asking, but I genuinely wanted to know.

"Er… er… because… well, I like you, Ginny," he blushed.

I snorted. "Right. I was the second person you asked, sweetie. Why'd you really ask?"

He sighed. "Well after Hermione's brutal rejection, you were the first person I thought of. Honest. And I knew you wanted to go, only third years and below aren't allowed without dates. And obviously, I didn't want to go stag".

"Well thank you, for considering me," I chuckled. "You like Hermione right?" I winked.

"Wh-what, no, pfffft, who told you _that_?" he laughed nervously. I raised my eyebrow. "Okay, I don't know. Maybe. I mean, she's really nice and smart and actually helps me unlike other people. I don't know".

"Hey, Neville," I said. When he looked my way, I leaned in and lightly kissed him on the lips. When I pulled away, his eyes were as wide as a house-elf's.

"What, why would you- _what_?"

"I'm experimenting," I shrugged. "Just doing what Hermione said".

He looked a bit offended. "_Experiment_. What am I, your boy-toy now?"

I grinned and stood up. "Why did you ask me to the ball?" The look on his face was priceless. I held in my laughter as I walked up the Grand staircase, and then decided to throw in a wink for good measure. His mouth fell open and I turned back around, towards the Gryffindor common room.

Maybe I was imagining things. But I swear I heard a chuckle followed by him saying, "Well played, Weasley".


End file.
